Sudoku

Sudoku is a logic-based number placement puzzle. The objective of the puzzle is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each rows, columns and 3×3 grids have numbers from 1 to 9. Initially given a partially filled grid you have to use logic to complete the puzzle.
The puzzles owe their popularity in modern times to the ability of software applications to quickly generate puzzles and check the solution for correctness.
I like them because they force you to think and look for all the possibilities.

Currently it is my 9-5 job. I go to office and spend a majority of time solving them on www.websudoku.com

Annual Ritual

The annual ritual in question is CAT. I have been filling the form for the last four years. The sequence of events is mostly the same. Fill the form at the last moment. Somewhere between the exam and form filling, I find myself very serious but that last for only a bout a week and I fill no other forms. Then the exams come. After going through the exams I relax a bit. This is the best part of the ritual. I love these exams. The whole exam process, coaching coming out with different solutions and the stuff. One things to note is I am always relaxed during this part of the process. Now comes the scary parts. Yeah, you guessed it right. The results. I panic after the results. No not  because I have done bad, but because I have done rather well and have ended up with the dreaded calls. Now the same agonizing cycle. Reaching the interviews highly unprepared and flunking up all chances. Bunking interviews has also happened.

Now the thing wrong with this is that the circle should start earlier. I am not starving so I have  the luxury of thinking whether I want to do the MBA or not. If yes, from what all places. If having fun for 2 more years is the idea, why not in Europe or somewhere good. What good is doing MBA from India. Not that I might not have fun in Indian colleges but do I really want to do an MBA that badly. What I mean by the circle starting earlier  (if only a circle could start earlier), is that I should evaluate completely whether I want to do an MBA at all or it is just some seasonal hormones which push me to fill the forms and waste 1200 bucks at least and plenty of other things. Like this year, I missed the trip to Goa for which we were preparing so much.

Indian Culture

We started off by discussing the Indian music and the award won by it including the latest by A. R. Rahman. Then we went on to the fact that India is one of the oldest civilizations in world and that we had a planned city in Indus Valley civilization in existence much before others. India has made contributions to medical science (charak samhita), to mathematics (zero) and to trade in the ancient times. Also how we had Vedas and other ancient text which are a repository of lot of knowledge. Also culturally we were also good, in architecture as show by Khajuraho, Ajanta, Ellora etc. The Gupta dynasty has also sent naval armies to fight the sea pirates active in the current Indonesian region. Then came the point where we talked about how we fell from grace and came to be what we are now. Then we came onto why every country is promoting its own language and culture and why are we running after English. We discussed the benefits of promoting English versus promoting Hindi and the difficulties posed by both.

The benefits of English are:

1)      Ability to do business with the world which has enabled our growth up to this point

2)      Easy access to all the technological and other developments across world most of which is in English or is available readily translated in English.

The benefits of Hindi are:

1)      Encouraging our own culture

2)      Inclusion of rural populace in the mainstream of development

The difficulties in promoting English are that a huge percentage of our population has no access to ways to learn English and join the mainstream where good paying job and avenues of development are available. The difficulty in promoting Hindi is that a huge amount of investment will be required by way of translation of lots of stuff into Hindi as well as the fact that India doesn’t have a common language. We will need to undertake this activity in all the major languages of India. And corporate won’t take this up as it doesn’t make much business sense of them and the kind of inefficiency and lethargy Indian government has shown in its working it can’t be expected to take this up and complete this successfully.

One good point for vernacular languages is that once the benefits of development reach the masses of India, Indian companies will have to cater to them in vernaculars which will lead to their development. But somewhere this is a circular path and we don’t see the circle starting anytime soon. Maybe what the government can do is enable both the options and let people be their own judge. English can be a driver of growth but only for so much time as
export led growth cannot really work unless there is domestic demand. The sustained development for an economy can come only from internal demand. Exports can help for some time but in the end they should be a means to achieve development for all. An example was cited of the telecom companies having call centers catering
to the vernacular speaking population. Also if the services are to be made available to rural populace, it will have to in a language that they are comfortable in rather than one that is imposed on them.

Hence finally it should be left to people to decide for themselves. The government should work to make both the options viable but let people choose for themselves but they must have that choice and equal opportunities in both.

And Federer does it again.

My 100% record of getting Roger Federer defeated in a Grand Slam continues. It started with the 2005 Australian Open semi-final with Marat Safin which Federer lost 5–7, 6–4, 5–7, 7–6(6), 9–7 in over four hours and Safin went on to win the finals too. Then I had a big break and came back to get Federer defeated in the Wimbledon Finals of 2008 at the hands of Rafael Nadal. And again yesterday, Federer lost the Australain open to his nemesis, Rafael Nadal and broke down on court, perhaps believing that he will now not be able to get his now elusive 14th Grand Slam to equal Pete Sampras. I personally believe that getting equal number of slams, even if he gets them which is highly unlikely now, will not make him one of the greatest tennis players of the era as a lot of people keep harping. In his early years, he had a free run at all the non-clay slams which he exploited to his advantage. I don’t say that he shouldn’t have done that but what I don’t understand is why he is considered among the greatest player when he has won his slams in a period of almost no opposition. Whenever he has been stretched, he has lost it and he hasn’t been on many occasions when he was collecting those slams so we should bemoan the lack of quality of Men’s tennis in those years.

Now we have some good players on the scene. Nadal is obviously there and then we have Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Also the way Fernando Verdasco played in semis, he showed he can challenge anyone.

So I fail to see how Federer will now get to his 14th Grand Slam now which makes me very happy. Unless all 3 mentioned above are injured, it is going to be very tough for Federer to get a slam now.

Stocks purchased today :-(

Looks like I should start reading my own posts. Even after posting the previous mail about why to buy stocks , I ended up buying a couple of them today. And to top it, this is what my astro prediction for today reads like, “

Decisions made in haste today may be regretted, so today make your decisions with much forethought and consideration. Do not choose your path hastily or you may find that your choice was a mistake. Decisions you take with the best intentions at heart will bring you fulfilment in the end.”

Although I bought stocks with price to bookvalue ratios of less than half, given the current choppy conditions you never know what might happen. From now on much more attention should be paid before any stocks are bought. I have the advantage of investing really small quantities so not much impact on me personally even if the markets were to go down from here. Bottom hunting is now of no use or so it seems now. You should get in with whatever spare cash you have keeping a long term view. Maybe I should wait till my job gets permanent which it should given the way the company has been expanding the team. But still, I should wait for the job confirmation else things can get too bad.

Absolutes

People never tend to stay happy within absolutes. They have a tendency to go relative and get whining. Even when they are getting a decent salary that is good enough to keep them happy in the city they are living in, they will still whine about how bad the living conditions in their part of the world is, how they are making less money than such and such guys and stuff like that.
We always find ways to make us believe that we don’t have the best of the worlds when in fact we do.

I am just wondering whether by ‘they’, I meant I (me).

Random Thoughts

90% of the women on this planet are attracted to just one thing: the bulge in your (back) pocket. But they know you will always be willing to believe they see that special quality in you, and can’t live without it. Once they get you contractually and parentally locked in, your needs become a nuisance to them.

The sorry truth is, the character of men is most like that of a dog: loyal, will suffer any abuse, and still love you unconditionally. Women resemble cats: manipulative, capable of simulating love whenever it is opportune, and will sit perched on a chair while an intruder cuts your throat and steals your belongings. Then, when he’s about to leave, rub up against his leg in hopes of getting a treat.

PS: This comes from a comment on one of the posting of the New York Magazine’s Sex Diaries.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/06/the_cuckolded_wall_street_dad.html

Yeah thats what I have been doing in the office this last few days, reading MY mag’s Sex Diaries

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/sex_diaries/

Websense in my office doesn’t blocks that .

Moksha

What is moksha and why should one seek moksha ?

Coherency in thoughts.

One thing I have observed about me over time is that I cannot think coherently most of the time. This leads to very few blogs coming from me. I start something and then I veer off in another direction and that topic is sort of forgotten by me. I will try to improve upon myself and post some of the thoughts coherently here over a span of time. Till then you people will have to find something else to do . Bye.

Finally I got one ?

So finally I got a wordpress blogging account. I don’t know why but I dislike that blogspot thing. Nothing major I’m sure but still. I hope to unleash the creative me over here so all you morons get ready to be slaughtered .  What !! I just got a bit high it seems so I should stop myself now. Bye . Good Night and Sweet Dreams.